December 9, Pozirk. Alaksandar Łukašenka has reiterated that Minsk will not release hundreds of Lithuania-registered trucks with cargos held in Belarus unless Vilnius agrees to direct negotiations.
“No need to shout like crazy and make much noise. No need to involve Americans, Russians or Ukrainians. It will not work. This topic is for our negotiations and our relations,” state media quoted him as saying at a government security conference in Minsk today.
“We can always reach an agreement with the people of Lithuania, like with the Poles. These are our people. If you want normal relations, sit at the negotiating table to discuss these problems. We are ready for it. There are no other options,” he said.
He also dismissed concerns about weather balloons launched from Belarus to smuggle cigarettes to Lithuania. Earlier today, Vilnius declared an “extreme situation”—a low-level emergency to stop balloons disrupting airport operations.
“I talked to flyers, pilots. They say that this is not a problem [for aircraft] at all. The problem has been blown out of proportion, politicized. Why, this is a question,” he said.
Lithuania declared an “extreme situation” at least for a month to see if it can cope with weather balloons, Lithuanian Interior Minister Vladislav Kondratovič, in charge of the response operation, said.
The extreme situation gives the military “special powers to act more effectively—both together with units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and independently,” Kondratovič said.
Tensions between Belarus and Lithuania over cigarette-smuggling balloons have been rising since mid-October, prompting Lithuanian authorities to close the border and suspend operations at Vilnius International Airport, which is located close to the Belarusian border.
Last week, Kondratovič said nearly 600 weather balloons and 197 drones had been spotted in Lithuania since January. The incidents disrupted 350 flights, affecting about 51,000 passengers.
Vilnius International Airport has suspended operations for more than 60 hours since October, most recently on December 6.
Vilnius kept the Medininkai–Kamienny Łoh and Šalčininkai–Bieniakoni checkpoints at the shared border with Belarus closed from October 29 to November 20 over the incursions. Hundreds of Lithuanian trucks remain stranded on Belarusian territory since then.
Minsk barred these cargo vehicles from leaving the country and ordered them to move to guarded parking sites. Lithuania, in turn, accused Belarus of escalation by seizing the vehicles and preventing their return.
Vilnius has ignored Minsk’s appeals for direct diplomatic talks because it significantly downgraded official contacts after what it called rigged 2020 presidential election in Belarus.
Minsk pushes for consultations between the countries’ foreign ministries, while Lithuania views possible talks as an effort to break the international isolation of Łukašenka’s regime and potentially pave the way for easing sanctions.
